Obama: Trust Government

U.S. President Barack Obama gives the commencement address to the graduating class of The Ohio State University at Ohio Stadium on May 5, 2013 in Columbus, Ohio.

“I dare you, Class of 2013, to do better. I dare you to do better,” Obama said.

Obama also urged the students to “reject these voices” that warn of the evils of government, saying:

‘Still, you’ll hear voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that’s the root of all our problems, even as they do their best to gum up the works; or that tyranny always lurks just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, creative, unique experiment in self-rule is just a sham with which we can’t be trusted…

“Self rule?” Were Americans in favor of the war on Iraq? Did Americans want the destruction of Libya? Syria? Do Americans have an unequivocal right to a trial by a jury of our peers, or has Obama killed American citizens without even a charge? Did Americans favor the bankster bailouts? Why is the Social Security Administration buying hollow-point ammunition? “Trust?” Obama might as well have said, “Close your eyes.”

The Social Security Administration requested a quote for 176,000 rounds of hollow-point ammunition — ammunition that is meant to expand and do more damage once it hits its target. While not illegal in the United States, many have questioned the need for members of the SSA to use such ammunition.

OIG’s special agents use this ammunition during their mandatory quarterly firearms qualifications and other training sessions, to ensure agent and public safety.

–OIG response

However, many law-enforcement agencies use hollow-point ammunition, including field agents working for the SSA in the Office of Investigation. These criminal and special agents investigate violations of the law in 66 offices around the U.S. and are similar to state law enforcement. The ammunition in question is intended to supply approximately 300 special agents who work for the SSA’s Office of the Inspector General.

“Media reports expressed concerns over the type of ammunition ordered,” the OIG’s website states. “In fact, this type of ammunition is standard issue for many law enforcement agencies. OIG’s special agents use this ammunition during their mandatory quarterly firearms qualifications and other training sessions, to ensure agent and public safety. Additionally, the ammunition our agents use is the same type at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center.”

The OIG contends that its agents need to be armed and trained properly to safely investigate Social Security fraud.

In 2000, America was described as the sole remaining superpower – or even the world’s “hyperpower”. Now we’re in real trouble (at the very least, you have to admit that we’re losing power and wealth in comparison with China).

…The world has been turned upside down. The pestilence of corporate totalitarianism is spreading rapidly over the earth. The criminals have seized power. It is not, in the end, simply Assange or Manning they want. It is all who dare to defy the official narrative, to expose the big lie of the global corporate state. The persecution of Assange and Manning is the harbinger of what is to come, the rise of a bitter world where criminals in Brooks Brothers suits and gangsters in beribboned military uniforms—propped up by a vast internal and external security apparatus, a compliant press and a morally bankrupt political elite—monitor and crush those who dissent. Writers, artists, actors, journalists, scientists, intellectuals and workers will be forced to obey or thrown into bondage. I fear for Julian Assange. I fear for Bradley Manning. I fear for us all…

James R. Granger, Jr.

earned degrees in economics and finance, has a lifelong interest in history and science, and has authored books on Megahistory, the origins and migrations of the races of humanity. This site was established to provide a vehicle for the dissemination of information important to progressive people.